[10/04/06 - 10:25 AM]Quick Take for Monday, October 2, 2006 - Final Ratings ABC spins the numbers for Monday, October 2.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Monday, October 2, 2006 - Final Ratings

ABC Attracts its Largest Monday Audience with Regular Programming Since Early-May and Grows from the Same Night Last Year in W18-34 and W18-49

At 8pm, ABC's "Wife Swap" Tallies its Third Straight Week of Increases Over the Corresponding Same Night Last Year among Adults 18-49

"The Bachelor: Rome" is Up by 21% in Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49 from Its Most Recent Premiere, the Franchise's Most-Watched Opener since March 2005

With Solid Audience Build During its Telecast, ABC's "The Bachelor: Rome" Ties "Studio 60" at 10:30pm in Adults 18-49 and Beats the NBC Drama in Key Women

Monday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

With "Wife Swap" at 8:00 p.m. leading into the 2-hour season premiere of "The Bachelor: Rome" at 9:00 p.m., ABC attracted its largest Monday night audience (7.3 million) with regular programming since early-May - since 5/1/06.

* ABC was up over the same night last year (10/3/05), an evening which included "Monday Night Football" coverage and an episode of "Wife Swap," by 6% in Women 18-34 (3.7/10 vs. 3.5/10) and by 5% in Women 18-49 (4.2/10 vs. 4.0/10).

"Wife Swap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

"Wife Swap" gave ABC a solid start from 8:00-9:00 p.m. with 6.9 million viewers and a 2.9 rating, 8 share in Adults 18-49. The ABC unscripted program took second place in the hour among Adults 18-34, tying NBC's "Deal No Deal" (2.6/8) and beating the CBS comedies by 8% ("The Class"/"How I Met Your Mother" - 2.4/7).

* For the third straight week, Wife Swap was up from its year-ago performance in Adults 18-49, gaining 7% from the same night last year (2.7/8 on 10/3/05).

"The Bachelor: Rome" (9:00-11:00 p.m.)

At 9:00 p.m. "The Bachelor" built on its lead-in and gained audience during each half-hour of its 2-hour season premiere. In fact by 10:30 p.m., ABC's "The Bachelor: Rome" caught NBC's "Studio 60" among Adults 18-49 (3.3/9), and beat the NBC drama by solid margins across each of the key women demographics from 10:00-11:00 p.m.: W18-34 +24% (4.1/11 vs. 3.3/9), W18-49 +21% (4.7/12 vs. 3.9/10) and W25-54 +6% (5.0/12 vs. 4.7/11).

* ABC's "The Bachelor: Rome" opened with 21% more Viewers (7.5 million vs. 6.2 million) and with 15% more Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.7/7) than most the most recent edition of the show ("The Bachelor: Paris" on 1/9/06).

* "The Bachelor: Rome" generated ABC's strongest performance in the time period with regular programming in 5 months - since 5/1/06.